Fastening device



G. I; MITCHELL.

FASTENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED JULY 1, 1920.

1,382, 1 12. Patented June 21, 1921.

UNITED STATES P AT E NT OFF l -Q E.

GROVER IRA MITCHELL, 01E MADISON, WISCONSIN.

FASTENING DEVICE.

To all whom it awry concern:

Be it known that LGROVER lnaMrron- ELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Madison, in the county of Dane and State of Wisconsin, (whose postofiice address is No. 3025 Extension Building, Madison, lVisconsim) have invented a new and useful Fastening Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fastening devices whereby a plural number of plates or pieces provided with an elongated slot are held together by a cross member which is inserted through the slot and then turned to a position at right angles with the slot, said cross member being held against the material being held by the tension of a spring which is part of the fastener, this spring bearing against one side of the material being held while the cross member bears against the other side, the combined action of the spring and of the cross member holding the material firmly together.

The objects of my improvement are, first, to provide a fastener easily installed in position; second, to provide a fastener which can be easily and cheaply manufactured; third, to provide a fastener having ample strength to fulfil the purpose for which it is intended; and, fourth, to provide a fastener which will stay in positiomafter it has been applied to the material being held, under adverse conditions, such as the jar and vibration of moving vehicles and machinery.

l attain these objects by the device illus trated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the complete fastener as it appears when removed from the material being held; Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the fastener applied to two plates of metal suitably prepared to receive the fastener, part of the coils which form the spring of the fastener being cut away so as to expose the interior construction of the fastener and to show the method of application to the material being held.

Similar numerals and letters refer to similar parts in the two views.

The fastener is intended to be formed from spring wire or other suitable material, a cross member being formed in the wire as at 1, the two ends of the wire 2 and 3 are carried away from the cross member 1 to form a central stem composed of the wire Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 21 1921 Application filed July 1,

Serial No. 393,31 1.

2 and the wire 3. At a suitable distance from the cross member 1 the wire 2 is bent at-right angles and coiled into a circular head l. Just below the head a, as appears in Fig. 1, the wire 3 is bent at right angles and is coiled into the spring 5 which terminatesin the coil 6 in close association with the cross member 1. The lower coil 6 of the spring 5 is so formed as to have the greater part of its circumference in contact with the material being held when the fastener is applied as in Fig. 2.

In order that the fastener will stay in'positlon when applied to the material being held, the lower member or coil 6 of the spring 5 as appears in Fig. 1 has two projections, spaced 180 degrees apart, these projections T are so located with reference to the cross member 1 that when the fastener is applied and the cross member 1 has been placed through the slot C, Fig. 2, which pierces the plate A and the plate B, and the device turned to bring the cross member 1 perpendicular to the slot (J, the projections 7 will register with the slot C and hold the fastener in position.

The fastener is applied to the material to be held by grasping the coiled head at in the fingers, inserting the cross member 1 in the slot C, and pushing the cross member 1 through the slot C until the cross member 1 can be turned at right an les to the slot C. In order that the user may be able to get a firm grip on the fastener when applying it to the material to be held I have provided the coiled head at with a knurled surface, but it is understood that any other suitable means of securing a good grip may be employed within the scope of the claims.

The fastening device herein pictured and described is made of one piece of spring wire. It is understood, however, that this construction is but one of the many ways in which the basic idea of this invention may be applied, and that any other construction embodying one or more pieces of any suit able material forming an operative unit capable of holding several plates or parts together substantially as herein described may be used within the scope of the several claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and patentable follows:

1. A fastening device comprising a cross member, a central stem, and a spring adapted to exert pressure upon parts interposed register with slots in the parts held.

v 2. A device, for holding togethera number of plates provided with slots, comprising a cross member adapted to be putthrough the slots, said cross member being integral with a central stem, and a coiled spring in tegral with the central stem adapted to exert pressure upon the plates interposed between the cross member and the spring, one coil of said spring having projections adapted to register with the slots in the plates when the cross member is put through the slots and turned to a position at right angles to the slots.

3. A fastening device comprising a cross member integral with a central stem; a head with means of turning the device secured to the central stem; and a spring integral with the central stem, said spring being confined by the head and adapted to exert pressure upon material interposed between the spring and the cross member, one coil of saidspring having projections adapted to register with the slot in the material held.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of twowitnesses on -Witnesses LAWRENCE E. BLAIR, HERBERT O. BRIOKSON. 

